The question determines whether any other living persons remain in the house so the body collector knows whether his work is complete. By asking rather than assuming, he allows the survivor to confirm the total devastation.

The survivor answers ‘No,’ confirming that he is the only one left alive in the house (Amos 6:10).

The question seeks a grim census of the living amid the dead. The Hebrew construction uses ‘od (yet, still) to emphasize the shocking possibility that anyone at all might remain. By asking rather than declaring the house empty, the relative acknowledges the survivor’s agency and grants dignity even in catastrophe. The interrogative form slows the moment, forcing both speakers to confront the totality of judgment. This is not casual conversation but a liturgy of loss, where questions replace certainties and silence becomes mandatory.